The invention relates to a computer system having a host computer, a storage subsystem, and a management computer and, more particularly, to a technique for monitoring performance of the storage subsystem.
In association with the spread of an SAN (Storage Area Network) technique, an increase in size and complication of the storage subsystem are rapidly progressing. Therefore, in storage management software to monitor the performance of the storage subsystem, it is demanded to monitor a larger number of monitoring targets at higher precision.
As a technique for realizing efficient data management, an ILM (Information Lifecycle Management) is being spread. In the ILM, a storage device or a volume is layered in accordance with characteristics including performance, reliability, a price, and the like. In the ILM, data is stored into a layer adapted to the data characteristics including a use value, an access frequency, and the like of the data.
For example, explanation will be made with respect to a case of a computer system including: an upper layer constructed by logical volumes which are provided by a storage subsystem having high performance; and a lower layer constructed by logical volumes which are provided by a reasonable storage subsystem whose performance is not so high. In this case, data whose emergency degree or use frequency is high is stored into the upper layer so that it can be accessed in a short time. On the other hand, data whose use frequency is low but which needs to be stored for a long period of time is stored into the lower layer while importance is attached to storing costs.
The storage management software has a function of managing performance of various resources constructing the storage subsystem. The resources constructing the storage subsystem include physical disks, ports, logical disks, and the like. For example, the storage management software collects and accumulates performance information of each resource. The storage management software rearranges the resources on the basis of the accumulated performance information. By such a method, the storage management software optimizes the performance of the storage subsystem.
For example, a technique for managing the performance of the logical volumes has been disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,748,489 or U.S. Pat. No. 6,961,817. According to such a technique, the storage management software collects performance data from all of the logical volumes. The storage management software forms or moves the logical volumes on the basis of the collected performance data.